Nationals of a member state of the European Union, of another contracting state to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or of Switzerland, who maintain a commercial establishment in Germany for the purpose of practicing a craft listed in Annex A to the Handicrafts Code or who wish to work as a company manager, shall be granted an exemption from registration in the Register of Crafts pursuant to Section 9 (1) in conjunction with Section 7 (3) of the Handicrafts Code for a craft listed in Annex A to the Handicrafts Code upon application in accordance with the following provisions. An exemption permit shall be granted to anyone who has the necessary professional experience in the trade concerned. This applies not to the professions of optician, hearing aid acoustician, orthopedic shoemaker, orthopedic technician and dental technician.